Santa Clara Agrociência, an industry in the special fertilizer segment belonging to the Santa Clara Group, headquartered in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo (SP), has just issued its first debentures worth R$30 million. This strategic action is considered an important milestone, as it leaves the company, which has been working hard on implementing corporate governance practices since 2018, with the best options for accessing third-party capital in the Brazilian market.
Access to the capital market, through the issuance of debentures, is combined with the excellent relationship with the four largest financial institutions in Brazil, which support Brazilian agribusiness, and long-term financial support for innovation from Finep (Financier of Studies and Projects ), demonstrating Santa Clara's high governance and how the company prepared itself to consolidate excellent management, reinforcing its commitment to Brazilian agribusiness and customers.
Investment in corporate governance was fundamental in contributing to the company's growth rates. In the last five harvests it achieved an average of 34% growth per year, while its operating market increased by 23% in the same period. “The results obtained reinforce that governance provides conditions for sustainable growth, demystifying the idea that governance is bureaucracy or restricts companies”, highlights Vinícius Mazza, financial and human resources director at Grupo Santa Clara.
Because governance is essentially related to decision-making, the process within Santa Clara, of family control, began with the professionalization of executives, who have the autonomy to implement the best practices, aiming at the longevity of the business. “We have always been encouraged by shareholders to follow good corporate governance practices, respecting human relationships and aiming for legacy and longevity”, he states.
Other actions implemented were: balance sheet audit, zero-based annual budget, statutory Board of Directors, strategic planning, SAP information system and various committees, working groups and policies, encouraging synergistic participation between executives, advisors and shareholders. These actions are the basis for transforming the company into a privately held corporation.
This evolution within the governance aspect is linked to the company's innovative DNA. In this way, innovation is not only in product development, but also in business and management models, since for Santa Clara to have high governance, it was necessary to be innovative.
The company invests over 8% of its gross revenue in Research & Development, practically double the sector average. It also has partnerships with approximately 40 public and private research institutions, resulting in the production of its own technologies and new solutions to support agriculture in Brazil and abroad. Obtaining patents or publishing scientific articles is proof of the innovation activity of your teams.
In addition to Santa Clara Agrociência, the Santa Clara Group is made up of Hydromol, designed to manufacture special fertilizers in B2B partnerships; by Linax, recently acquired, a company that researches and produces raw materials for biodefensive products, and by Inflora Biociência, also responsible for the research and production of exclusive technologies in the area of biodefensive products.
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